


Five Times Hale Doesn't Quite Manage To Tell Her (And One Time He Doesn't Need To)

by oneworldaway



Category: Lost Girl
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 00:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneworldaway/pseuds/oneworldaway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One look at her on the dance floor and he <i>knows</i> he’s going to have to join her out there one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Hale Doesn't Quite Manage To Tell Her (And One Time He Doesn't Need To)

**Author's Note:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS, OUR SHIP SAILED. Thanks for the beta, [Emily](http://archiveofourown.org/users/freyafrida/pseuds/freyafrida)! (Go read her Kenzi/Hale fics too, tbh.)
> 
> This fic touches on the Kenzi/Hale scene in 4.02 which was a bit dubcon, though it is addressed as such.

1.

He spots her across the Dal, dancing with Bo. He’s never seen any human act like this around the fae before, as they would among their own kind. Claimed humans are timid, submissive. They speak when spoken to, and there’s always this sort of faraway look in their eyes, like they know this isn’t where they truly belong. There are also those who seem to have stopped caring what happens to them, basking in the luxury of their owners’ lifestyles for however long it may last, but that isn’t her either - because Kenzi is no claimed human. She’s just Kenzi, a human, and one who’s chosen to spend this particular Friday night dancing and downing tequila shots at a fae pub.

One look at her on the dance floor and he _knows_ he’s going to have to join her out there one day.

But as Dyson beckons him into the back room to discuss their latest case with Trick, Hale wonders just how far off “one day” might be.

 

2.

His mind starts racing as soon as she walks out the door, and she’s hardly been gone a minute before he’s decided to tell her everything. Almost losing her was too much; it felt like the floor was falling out from beneath him, and he couldn’t bear to feel that way ever again. So he has to tell her now, before another nice, _human_ guy like Nate comes along and whisks her away.

But the minutes pass and two drinks in he still feels dead sober. Just that kind of a night, he figures. Life or death will do that to you.

He’s thinking too clearly and too quickly all at once. It feels off. He already knows he’s going to back out. It’s probably for the best, anyway. She’s been through a lot.

Kenzi returns a few minutes later. Hale puts on a smile, calls her “lil mama,” and pretends he can’t feel his heart clenching at the memory of her lying in front of him half-dead, and soaring as she sits beside him now, very much alive and smiling back at him.

 

3.

Hale doesn’t even find out that Kenzi’s been missing until she’s already safe at home with Bo, though to be fair, he’s hardly the only one. Still, it’s the most conflicted he’s felt about his life choices since he first took this job on. Checking first that no one’s in the hall, he locks the door to his office and quickly takes out his frustrations on every paper and useless fae trinket in sight. Sitting down heavily, he surveys the mess he knows he’ll just have to clean up himself before he leaves, and curses under his breath.

He was the last one to see her before she was taken. And he shut her out.

Maybe she didn’t fully grasp how hard things were becoming for him as the Ash - how could she, if he never bothered to _talk_ to her about it? - but he never wanted to treat her that way. But there he was, the new golden child of Clan Zamora, with the Blood King himself telling him it was time to be a little more straight-laced. It hurt sending her away, but he had to believe he was doing the right thing. After all, Kenzi’s place in their world was pretty well determined by Bo’s, so what was good for the light fae - regardless of Bo’s refusal to officially align herself with them - would be good for Kenzi, too. The best thing he could do for her was do his job the right way.

At least, that was how he reasoned it at first. Now he sees that was a load of crap. The best thing he could’ve done for her was be her friend.

By the time he gets to the clubhouse, Kenzi’s fast asleep upstairs. Bo looks a bit drained, but mostly hugely relieved. Hale knows better than to wake Kenzi up.

“Just tell her I stopped by, okay?” he says to Bo. “And I’m glad she’s home.”

He thinks he sees something in Bo’s expression for a second, like she’s noticed the worn out look in his eyes or the newly bandaged cut on his hand from his earlier fit of rage, but in a flash it’s disappeared and she’s just smiling, tiredly. “I will.”

He chickens out on going back to their place the next morning. _I’m probably the last person she wants to see right now, anyway._ Two days pass before their paths finally cross at the Dal, and he’s on his way out, but he takes it as a good sign that she doesn’t even come close to biting his head off. He holds her arm for a moment too long before he even realizes he’s touching her, and he quickly makes his leave.

_Coward_ , whispers the voice in his head, but he shakes it off. No, this is for the best. If he lets her in now, it might just all come spilling out, and he knows what that could mean for both of them. Bo will be watching over her more closely now, and really, she’s probably safest far away from him.

He should’ve known that agreeing to take on all this responsibility would come back and bite him in the Ash.

 

4.

He knows it the moment it’s been reversed, the weight of reality hitting him like a truck. Bo’s missing, and someone wanted to make certain they didn’t find her. But erasing Bo had a ripple effect, and now all the jumbled pieces of the past few months are fitting themselves back together.

_Kenzi._

He told her. He kissed her. And she didn’t even seem completely grossed out by the idea of him seeing her that way.

_Kenzi._ Who already knows that he thinks she smells like flowers and he’s fallen far deeper than he ever expected. They should’ve finished that talk months ago.

But it’s not going to happen until they’ve found Bo, and he gets that. At least she didn’t seem to object to talking about it _sometime_. He knew she felt bad leaving him there, but they were just going to have to put this on the back burner for now.

“So,” says Vex, breaking the silence. He gestures vaguely toward the doorway. “You and Kenzi. Are you _really_ not doing the dirty yet?”

Hale props himself up on an elbow and looks at the guy who was trying to kill him about five minutes ago. “Fae off, Vex.

 

5.

It keeps him up half the night, the memories playing on a loop in his mind. For a moment, it seemed like everything was going to work out. But inadvertently taking advantage of Kenzi with the fae equivalent to Axe body spray was definitely _not_ how he’d planned on going about this.

And still, he remembers the feeling of her lips on his, so different from the last time, when he’d snuck her the Twig of Zamora. He remembers her hands all over him, her body pressed up against his, and he _shouldn’t_ remember, not when she had no say in the matter, but he can’t get any of it out of his head. He’s going to apologize to her...a lot. And _then_ maybe they’ll finish talking.

Or maybe the stars just aren’t aligned that way. Lord knows Hale’s been trying. He’s already spit the words out twice, and nothing’s changed. Is there a point in trying anymore?

But still, through everything, Kenzi’s never actually rejected him. She wasn’t even upset when he told her, straight up, what she was to him. Shit’s been crazy lately, but things will _have_ to settle down eventually, if only for a day or two. And maybe then, when she pauses _Mighty Ducks_ and gets up to find some more snacks, he’ll reach for her hand and ask her to wait, and they’ll finally be free to say everything that’s on their minds.

Hale falls asleep feeling hopeful - and maybe just a little bit hopelessly in love.

 

 

1.

Kenzi pulls back, arms still wrapped around Hale’s neck, and narrows her eyes at him. “Sunflowers and chardonnay? Really?”

Hale shifts a little, redistributing Kenzi’s weight in his lap. “Yeah,” he murmurs, leaning forward to nip at an earlobe.

“So you’re basically calling me wine-soaked,” says Kenzi, and it’s Hale’s turn to go still in her arms.

“That is _not_ what I meant,” he protests.

“If I _smell_ like wine to you, what is that implying?”

Hale opens his mouth to retort, but only ends up sighing. “You just don’t appreciate romance when you hear it, lil mama.”

“Hey, I can do romance,” says Kenzi, stroking his cheek with her thumb and leaning in to kiss him briefly. “I’m all about the romance.”

He searches her gaze, wonders if he’s reading the moment right. He feels the words bubbling up inside of him. But Kenzi looks back at him, and she _knows_. He can see it in her eyes, the understanding written there clear as day. She’s seen it in his, and she knows what he wants to say. He holds his breath in anticipation of her reaction.

Kenzi rocks forward and kisses him with renewed vigor.

Hale’s learned that sometimes, actions speak louder than words.


End file.
